side of the front porch. The hedge along the front of the house 
on the other side of the path separates the immediate house front 
from the fore-court proper. 
This fore-court, placed there to conform with the Colonial 
style of the house architecture, is an interesting free interpre¬ 
tation of an old Colonial garden form. The front doorway 
garden, as it was found in old New England and still very spar¬ 
ingly found in some conservative communities, is a form derived 
from the English fore-court, of which the English dooryard garden 
is a humbler, more intimate and less formal expression. 
The front fence stood near the road, the side fences extended 
back to the corners of the house. It was therefore rectangular 
in shape, taking its dimensions from the width of the house and 
the distance it was placed back from the road. 
At first the enclo¬ 
sure of the Colonial 
fore-yard had a 
purely practical rea¬ 
son for existence. It 
preserved from the 
inroads of cattle a 
little clearing where 
the housewife could 
grow a few flowers. 
But soon it became 
something more. 
There was an attempt 
to create a little air 
of formality for the 
approach to the front 
door. There was a 
nice striving to sepa¬ 
rate the small orderly 
garden from the 
rougher fields and big 
expanse of surround¬ 
ing country. 
These same reasons 
inspired the repetition 
of this Colonial gar¬ 
den form for this 
country house. In 
its simple arrange¬ 
ment there is a mes¬ 
sage to every dweller 
in rural communities, 
a suggestion of how 
to reinstate the farm 
house to its former 
dignity by appropri¬ 
ate garden surround¬ 
ings. 
These front gardens 
are found not only 
on old New England 
farms, but in old New England villages and towns. This smaller 
and simpler form has a message for every suburban dweller. It 
shows how to give the approach to the front door a certain 
nicety and reserve bv separating it from the service walks and 
drives as well as from the street. The enclosed front garden 
would regain its former privacy, its separateness from the street, 
and become again our individual expression of welcome to the 
house. 
To one side of the house the ground slopes off quite steeply, 
and on this slope a small garden space was won from the sur¬ 
rounding farm lands. 
There are three levels. Highest is the terrace just outside the 
living-room porch. Going down five steep stone steps we stop 
on a narrow walled strip not more than ten feet wide, where 
roses grow and tum¬ 
ble over the wall. 
Down another five 
steps, and we stand 
in the garden proper. 
It is a very small gar¬ 
den, walled in with 
the same stone used 
in the enclosure of the 
forecourt. The en¬ 
closure is one of the 
main essentials of a 
garden, for by shut¬ 
ting it in, the garden 
is relieved from com¬ 
peting with the big¬ 
ness of the surround¬ 
ing country and its 
varied nature. 
The trees overarch¬ 
ing the wall add much 
to this enclosure. 
There is a charming 
hooded seat built into 
the wall which re¬ 
minds one of seats in 
sheltered corners of 
English gardens. The 
two arched gateways 
make ample provision 
for getting around 
the grounds. With¬ 
out them the garden 
might seem a little 
cramped. A round 
pool stands in the 
center of the garden. 
The gentle trickle 
from the jet of water 
makes a pleasant 
( Cont. on page 458) 
By shutling it in, the garden is relieved from competing with the bigness of the surrounding country and its 
varied nature. The overarching trees add much to this enclosure 
A round pool stands in the center of the garden, with four groups of Japanese iris, At each corner of 
the grass plot is a Pinus mugho specimen 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
